Shards of Light
by Sweet Cari
Summary: Kari is kidnapped from her home but when no traces of her are found, Tai takes matters into his own hands.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Digimon.

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter One_

"Kids! Wake up! It's time for breakfast!"

Eight-year old Tai groggily opened his eyes, groaning in protest as he reluctantly got up from the top bunk and made his way down the ladder.

"Come on, Kari," he said, before walking away from his sister's lower bunk bed, leaving the room.

When Tai got to the kitchen, he was in awe when he didn't see any liver sticks, fungus cookies, or beef jerky shakes sitting on the table, just regular breakfast food.

At least, that's what it looked like.

"Well, this is a surprise," exclaimed Yuuko, "Usually Kari's up and ready before you are, Tai."

"Maybe she didn't hear me because she prefers whistling over talking." Tai grumbled as he sat in his chair about to eat some scrambled eggs.

"Now, Tai," Yuuko said firmly, "that's no way to talk about your sister. Now go and try to wake her up."

Tai put down his fork, "Okay, Mom, I'm sorry."

Tai reentered the room, quite unhappy because this was probably the only time he was ever going to have normal food for breakfast instead of his mother's homemade recipes he deemed as 'uneatable' and now he was going to miss it!

"Wake up, Kari!"

But she didn't move.

Tai tried nudging her awake but that didn't work either. He thought about using Kari's whistle against her to wake her up but she apparently had hidden it somewhere.

Soon, Kari's head poked out from under the bed sheets but she looked pale and weak.

Worried about his little sister, Tai forgot all about breakfast and called for their mother to see what was wrong.

"Kari just has a slight cold, Tai." Yuuko said to her son, handing him his backpack, "I gave her some medicine and all she needs now is some rest."

As Tai turned to leave the apartment, his mother said to him,

"If I'm not here when you get back, be sure to watch Kari for me, okay?"

"I will, Mom!"

…

On his way home from school, Tai contemplated on whether or not he should do as he was told earlier that morning.

_I want to go and play soccer...but I can't leave Kari home alone…_

Then, he had an idea.

_Maybe Kari's feeling better now! _thought the bushy-haired boy hopefully, _If not, I'll just take her outside and watch her there while I play! A little sunshine never hurt anybody!_

As Tai entered the apartment, Kari's shrill cry for help sounded in his ears. Running into the living room he gasped in horror when he saw a dark figure with his left hand covering Kari's mouth, stifling her screams while the other arm wrapped around her tiny body as she squirmed with only one free arm, desperately reaching out for her brother.

Throwing off his backpack, Tai raced towards them grabbing his sister's arm, trying to pull her loose, but the assailant's grip on the girl was too strong.

"I'll **never **let go! You're not taking Kari!"

Annoyed by the boy's resistance, the kidnapper kicked Tai aside, the force breaking his hold on Kari, as his head hit the side of the wall.

...

Brilliant white light blinded Tai as he slowly came to. Averting his eyes from the lights, he looked around and realized that he was not at home but instead was in the hospital.

Slowly sitting up, he turned to his right and saw his mother by his bedside.

"Mom?"

"Oh, Tai, you're awake!" Yuuko cried, gently caressing her son in a warm hug, "I'm so glad my baby's okay!"

Tai was confused.

"But, Mom, what am I doing here? Where's Kari?"

Yuuko stopped, releasing her embrace, and turned her gaze away from his.

Tai asked again.

"Where is Kari, Mom? Is she here too?"

"Tai," Yuuko began, "when I came home today, I found you lying on the floor unconscious. Your head was bleeding. After I called an ambulance, I went to check on Kari…"

She started to choke up.

Then Susumu came into the hospital room, attracting the attention of mother and son.

Yuuko got up from her seat, clinging onto the wrist of her husband.

"Did the police search the apartment?" she asked, "Did they find her?"

Susumu only hung his head solemnly.

"No…please…" Yuuko pleaded, "Kari can't be…She must be…Please tell me!"

He sighed sadly, "They found no trace of our daughter, nor the person who may have kidnapped her. The chief of police told me that they will keep looking, but with kidnappings like these, the outcome is usually not in our favor."

Yuuko broke down in tears. Hearing those words shattered the hope in her heart of finding her daughter.

"W-what have I done!" she sobbed, "It's a-all my fault!"

She had failed as a parent, a mother but ultimately, she had failed as a protector.

A few days later, Tai was released from the hospital. However, the hunt for Kari's kidnapper and Kari was quickly going cold and after three months of searching for her, the police gave her up for lost.

Life wasn't the same for the Kamiyas afterwards. Yuuko spent most of her days looking through photo albums of happier times…times of which Kari was a part of and hardly ever left her room except to cook for the family. Susumu was having difficulty in maintaining his job due to the stress of loss as well as the fear of losing his son.

But for Tai, it was something else.

One day, after coming home from school, he wandered into the bedroom that he and Kari used to share, when something caught his eye.

Kari's whistle.

Seeing the little trinket reminded Tai of when Kari first received the stringed whistle as a birthday gift from him, recalling the way she used to wake and annoy him to death with it, and how she always had it in her mouth like a pacifier as well as her own way of 'talking' to him.

He picked it up, gently holding the gray whistle as if it were made of glass.

Then, a sudden feeling came over the boy.

Clutching the whistle tightly in hands, Tai whispered,

"I promise Kari, that wherever you are...I will find you…someday…"

-To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Two_

"Mom, I'm home."

Putting aside his school belongings, he could smell that dinner had already been made, but didn't hear his mother setting cups or plates on the table. Ignoring the aromas, Tai walked into the living room and found her slumped on the couch, her eyes fixed upon the television screen.

"Mom?"

"You're home early, dear," Yuuko said, not even looking up at her son.

"Are you alright?" he asked, growing anxious.

"I'm fine," she answered, "I was just thinking about Kari…before…"

Tai took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Do you think that Kari's still here, Mom?"

"Tai…Kari isn't coming back…"

"But I think she will!" Tai cried, "I still believe that Kari's out there somewhere!"

Yuuko shook her head, "Tai, sweetie…I understand that you always keep Kari in your thoughts but…you need to move on…you don't realize that this false hope in your heart is only hurting you."

She then slowly began to lift her hand, hoping that her touch would let her confused son realize the truth.

"Accept the fact that Kari is dead."

"**NO!"**

Tai furiously slapped his mother's hand away as he bolted up from the couch.

" **Kari Kamiya is still alive!" **he shouted, **"All these years, I never lost faith that one day she would return to us!"**

"Tai," Yuuko began, "you don't understand-"

"You're right, Mom, I don't understand…" interrupted Tai, his tone losing venom.

He turned away from her, leaving the room as he headed for the door.

Looking briefly back at her horrified expression, he said,

"You and Dad may have already given up…but I haven't and I never will."

Yuuko immediately sensed what he was planning to do next as he turned his back on her.

"Tai!" she screamed, "You come back here right this minute! Do you hear m-"

But she was only answered by the slamming of the door.

…

"Tai, what are you doing here? I thought I saw you go home with the others!"

"I got into an argument with my mother…" Tai replied in a low murmur, "I need to cool off, you don't mind if I stay at your place for the night, do you?"

Matt could feel the silent wrath emitting from his best friend, making him wonder what had happened but seeing Tai in such a rage frightened him and he quickly answered yes, to avoid facing Tai's growing impatience.

"W-well, since you're here," Matt said, attempting to change the mood, "You can be my test subject for a new melody I've come up with."

Agreeing to the idea, Tai took a nearby seat in the empty music room, listening to his best friend practice. Eventually, Tai's anger settled, but he wasn't listening to the tranquil tune being plucked away on the guitar.

And Matt was beginning to take notice.

"Tai? Tai?"

"Hm! Uh...What is it, Matt?"

"You weren't paying attention to my new instrumental, now were you?"

"I'm sorry, Matt," Tai answered sheepishly, "It's just that something's been bugging me that's all."

Matt set his guitar down and approached his friend.

"Something tells me that you're not really daydreaming." He said, "What's wrong, Tai?"

"I don't want to talk about it," The brunette responded, turning his gaze away from the blonde.

However, Matt persisted.

"Look Tai, I'm your friend. And I'm willing to help you out. Honest."

Tai turned and saw the loyalty of Matt's words shining in his blue eyes.

"Okay, I'll tell you," Tai began, "I ha—I have-"

"Matt! Matt! Are you in here?"

The two looked behind them and saw the door of the room open, revealing Matt's younger brother, T.K.

"What are you doing here, T.K.?" Matt asked.

"When I came home after basketball practice," T.K. explained, "I saw Mom packing her bags and told me to get my things ready, she said that she had to fly out to France early tomorrow for a report assignment to work on and to visit Grandpa, but she apologized for not telling me sooner."

"Did Mom say how long she was going to be gone?"

"She said that she may be gone for a week." The Bearer of Hope replied, "And obviously I can't go with her since school's started. She said she's going to be working things out with our dad so I can stay with you guys until she comes back. I haven't really packed much yet though."

_Matt is so lucky, _thought Tai as he watched as the two brothers compromise. _Though they have it rough since their parents are divorced, they manage to stay in touch with each other despite not living together._

He slowly let his hand drop into his green coat pocket, gently wrapping his fingers around Kari's whistle.

"So it's settled then!"

Hearing Matt's voice snapped Tai back to reality.

"I'd phoned Dad and he already knows you're staying with us, Bro, and he said yes about Tai staying for the night."

"Tai's spending the night with us?"

"Yep." Matt answered.

"Alright!"

After the trio left the music room, they went to the Takaishi apartment and helped T.K. gather his things, with Nancy dropping them off at her ex's apartment.

After T.K. unpacked, the boys went into Matt's room, it was then Matt's curiosity got the better of him.

"Tai, we need to talk," the older blonde said sternly, "what happened between you and your mom?"

"I thought I told you, that I just got into an argument with her."

"You can't fool me, Tai. You're not the type to hold grudges against your parents."

He was answered with a sudden smack across the face, sending him to the floor.

"Matt!" T.K. cried, he attempted to try and help his brother, but a quick glare from Tai kept the boy in place.

_Gee… _The younger boy thought helplessly, _I thought Tai and Matt were on better terms now…_

As Matt started to get up, Tai seized him by the collar of his school jacket, pushing him until his back was pressing against the wall of the bedroom.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" Tai demanded furiously, "YOU STILL HAVE YOUR YOUNGER SIBLING! I LOST MINE!"

Matt's eyes widened with shock. "B-but Tai, I-I thought you were an only child."

"Well, I'm not," Tai said, cooling down once more, "I'll tell you and T.K. everything…"

He paused when he noticed the bruise forming on the blonde's left cheek.

"After I get some ice for that."

…

When the Bearer of Courage finished his story, both brothers were beyond speechless. Though they were forcibly separated when their parents split up, they could still see each other but the thought of being kidnapped at a young age left them in chills.

Then Matt broke his silence. "Tai…I'm sorry about-"

"No, I'm the one that should be sorry," Tai said, hanging his head in guilt, "I shouldn't take my anger out on you like that. You were only trying to help."

"Well, I didn't realize how upset you were."

T.K. yawned, "Matt, I'm going to sleep…I'm getting tired…"

"It is pretty late," the brunet boy added, "Hey Matt, is it okay if I sleep on the couch in your living room because I don't think your bed could hold three people…"

"Go ahead," replied Matt, "besides, the couch is more comfy anyway."

Saying a quick good night to his friends, Tai left the room and collapsed onto the sofa, falling into a deep sleep.

…

"Help me, Tai!"

"Kari!"

Peering over a gaping hole, Tai saw his five-year old sister hanging onto a ledge on the inside, but it was slowly giving way because of her weight.

He bent down and leaned forward, trying to reaching out for her, "Hang on, just a little farther!"

Just as their hands barely made contact, the ledge broke away with Kari's shriek filling the air as she plummeted into the abyss.

"TAIIIII!"

"KARI!"

Tai awoke with a start, breathing heavily with the sweat beading on his skin.

"That dream…again…" he muttered, completely unaware that he was shaking.

In the darkness, he quickly dug into his coat pockets, which to his relief, the whistle: the sole drive of his motivation was still there.

He sighed, pulling it out and gazing at the small instrument in his hand.

_It's been seven years, since you disappeared, Kari, and so much has happened since then. You wouldn't believe the adventure that I had four years ago, I've met and made some new friends and saved another world._

_But something changed in me when I went to the Digital World. It gave me a new sense of hope. Not just for the world, but for you._

…

The following morning, Tai awoke to T.K. sitting beside him on the sofa.

"Morning, Tai!" exclaimed the younger blonde in a chipper voice, "Matt's making breakfast."

Tai was about to respond when his eyes caught T.K. curiously reaching for the metal device that was now resting on his chest. In a quick flash, the Bearer of Courage snatched up the whistle, narrowing his eyes at T.K. as a warning.

However, it was cut short when Matt walked into the living room holding two plates of fresh food.

"I made pancakes."

After handing T.K. his plate, Matt was about give the other to Tai but he refused.

Matt was surprised. "Aren't you gonna eat, Tai? My cooking's not that terrible, is it?"

"No." Tai answered, "I just need to go home."

…

When Tai made it back to his apartment, he found the door unlocked as usual.

"Mom probably went out shopping again," he said to himself as he went inside.

Sighing in boredom, he went into his room and turned on his computer.

As he continued to serve the net, a faint noise began to ring in his ears. Tai ignored it at first but the sound steadily grew stronger and more distinct.

Listening closely to the strange noise, Tai immediately recognized it as electrical static. Looking back at the computer and then to the lights above him, everything was functioning perfectly normal as if there was no power surge.

Tai began to grow uneasy.

Why was he hearing static though nothing was happening? Was he losing his mind?

Suddenly, Tai felt a hand on his shoulder, turning around in a gasp, he found himself staring at nothing but an open door.

_That nightmare last night must be playing with my imagination_. He thought nervously, _I better try to get some more rest…_

Plopping onto the bed, Tai dozed off, unaware that the digivice in his pocket was the source of the noise.

-To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Three_

Taking another nap proved useless as Tai forced himself awake. Sleep gave little comfort to the paranormal experience and had failed to shut it out of his subconscious.

Opening his eyes, he could see the outlined figure of his mother, with grocery bags in hand.

"Are you feeling alright, Tai?" she asked, "You look worn out."

"I'm fine," he answered back, slowly sitting up in bed, just as he was about to say more, feelings of guilt set in when he remembered how he had snapped at her for losing faith over Kari's disappearance.

"I-I'm really sorry about yelling at you yesterday, Mom."

Yuuko gave a weak smile. "It's okay, dear, I forgive you, I shouldn't have said what I said, but I can't bear the thought of losing you, too."

"But that won't happen!" he cried, and then he eased his tone, "It will never happen." He paused. "I can't explain," Tai stated, "but it's just that…I somehow know that Kari is still alive, even though the police didn't find anything."

Yuuko thought for a moment. "I guess it's what you'd call a 'brother's intuition'."

"Isn't supposed to be called 'a mother's intuition'?

She chuckled, "Usually in any mother's case."

Their attention was soon caught off guard by the beeping of Tai's computer. He quickly got up from the bed to check, showing a new e-mail sent to him by Davis.

His brown eyes scanned the message, saying that they could use some of his help knocking down the Digimon Emperor's Control Spires since they succeeded in destroying the spire in Agumon's area earlier, allowing him to digivolve and said to meet them in the school's computer lab.

_Well, this could give me something to do…_

…

Arriving in a forest area of the Digital World, things were going smoothly until Davis accidently stepped on Yolei's foot.

"Yeesh Yolei, I didn't even know that you were there!"

"Well," she spat, "if you didn't have those goggles wrapped so tightly around your brain like that, you probably could think straight!"

"Hey! These were a gift from Tai!" Davis yelled back, "besides, isn't it about time you got a new pair of glasses yourself, since you didn't see me standing right next to you when I put my foot down."

Cody and T.K. attempted to calm the two, their efforts proved useless while the three new Digimon partners observed the quarrel in awe fascination.

"Wow, so this is what humans do when they fight!" said Veemon.

"Hey, Hawkmon," Armadillomon asked, "How long do ya think they'll keep fightin'?"

"This could go on for days…" Hawkmon replied.

Watching and listening to them fight was giving Tai a headache.

This was not the kind of teamwork that he was expecting from his successors and interfering would only make worse, despite Tai being Davis' soccer idol and role model.

Ignoring Davis and Yolei's petty argument, Tai walked off unnoticed until he was of earshot of the shouting and slouched against a nearby tree, with Agumon following close behind.

_The younger Digidestined have it pretty easy compared to when Sora, Matt, and I, along with the others first came here. _He thought, _they can come and go whenever they want, while we had to survive and adapt to the Digital World. _

_Not only that, Davis' team is just knocking down Control Spires or freeing enslaved Digimon controlled by a human tyrant…What would they do when they realize that they may have to destroy other Digimon to stay alive…like we did?_

Tai cringed as he recalled encountering a vampire Digimon named Myotismon in the Digital World four years earlier. Despite the power that each of their crests contained, it didn't seem enough to even phase the bloodthirsty ultimate. It wasn't until T.K.'s Crest of Hope at last activated that the newly digivolved MagnaAngemon easily vanquished Myotismon by sealing him away using the Gate of Destiny.

He attempted to clear his mind when his eyes snapped open in alert.

"What is it, Tai?" the orange dinosaur asked.

Not answering, Tai went into a sprint, completely oblivious to Agumon's cries to slow down as he ran further and further into the digital wood.

"Tai! Tai! Wait up!" Agumon panted, "I know you called me 'Tubbymon' once before, but now I might be called 'Skinnymon' at this rate!"

Unbeknownst to his Digimon, something was drawing the teen to its source as if it was calling to him.

The sound of static came once again from his digivice, louder than ever but this time, Tai wasn't frightened by the noise; he was driven.

He kept running, knowing that each pace would get him closer to her.

_Kari!_

_It's her! I know it is! I can feel it! _

At last, he realized the truth.

_Why didn't I realize it before! Kari has been taken to the Digital World, that's explains why nobody could find her on Earth!_

"I'M COMING, KARI!"

…

Meanwhile, Davis and Yolei's arguing had reached its peak and so was T.K. and Cody's patience.

But it was Cody who finally spoke up.

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST CUT IT OUT ALREADY?"

They immediately ceased and stared down at Cody in surprise.

"Nothing will be accomplished if you two keep fighting like this," the young boy said, calming down a bit, "We're a team and we should follow the example that the older Digidestined carried out before us."

"Cody's right," T.K. added, "though Tai and my brother had their differences, they always managed to put them aside and work together in the end."

Davis hung his head in shame as did Yolei.

He removed Tai's old goggles from around his head, "I didn't earn these just because my old ones broke," he said, "I earned them because I showed courageous leadership."

"And I'm not following Sora's example either," Yolei admitted, "I should be more considerate to others."

"I'm sorry that I stepped on your foot, Yolei."

"And I'm sorry too Davis, for making such a big deal about it."

T.K. sighed in relief, "Well, now that's taken care of, let's have Greymon help knock down the Digimon Emperor's Control Spires! What do you say, Tai?"

But no answer came back.

T.K. looked around and realized that Tai and Agumon were no longer in the area.

"Tai? Agumon?"

"Where did he go?" asked Cody.

"Y-you don't think…." Yolei shuddered, "t-that the Digimon Emperor-"

"Don't say things like that!" Davis cried, "Tai would never go down without a fight! Besides, he's got Agumon with him!"

"Even so," T.K. stated, "if they wandered off to where there's still a Control Spire standing, Tai and Agumon would be easy targets if we don't do something."

"Come on," Davis said, taking the lead, "let's find him."

-To be continued…

…

Author's note: I'm happy to know that readers are enjoying my story so far. In gratitude, I will respond to those who had reviewed:

**Hedgi:** The setting of my story is sometime during 02 but I call Tai 'the bearer of courage' because he held the Crest of Courage though Davis holds the Digiegg of Courage. I hope this answers your question.

**LucJig:** Thanks for subscribing! I hope I didn't take too long in updating…

**Angelfish369: **Kari's not exactly a ghost at this point but is in a way, linked to Digital World.

**Vigatus:** Thank you!

**QueenSunset: **Thanks!

**crestoflight3: **I'm glad that you're impressed with my story, you always write good Digimon fanfics.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to New Year's Day coming up! Happy Holidays!

**Digi Yo:** Thanks!

**Angelfish369: **Lol, I enjoyed writing that comment since Agumon is sort of round…

**QueenSunset: **You're welcome, by the way, your story sounds interesting and I'll be looking forward to reading it.

**Vigatus: **The final battles in the first season were somewhat of a struggle for the 01 Digidestined.

**crestoflight3: **Thank you! Since I haven't seen the show in some time, I was worried about how everyone would still be in character.

**Hedgi: **Kari plays somewhat of a complex role in this story since she's not a Digidestined.

**LucJig: **I agree about your opinion about the 02 team, their awards were handed to them while the older team had to earn them to prove their worth.

**Spottedleaves1: **Well at the moment, Kari is entertwined with the Digital World.

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Four_

Looking at their D-3s, the four Digidestined were unable to get a signal from Tai's digivice, so the D-3s were unable to locate Tai, due to his digivice being an older model.

So, in an effort to quickly find Tai and Agumon before the Digimon Emperor did, the team decided to split into two groups: T.K. and Yolei would take to the sky on Pegasusmon and Halsemon for a better scan of the forest, while Davis and Cody searched on foot.

Calling out for Tai only brought forth more enslaved Digimon, prolonging their search for the former leader.

Minutes soon became hours and they were unable to find where Tai had possibly vanished to.

"UGH! It's no use!" Yolei moaned, "We'll never find him!"

"Of course we'll find him!" snapped Davis, "You just haven't been looking hard enough!"

Yolei glared at the gogglehead in annoyance, which T.K. noticed. Fearing that they might start another argument, he spoke up.

"But we can't give up now!" the blonde protested, with Patamon nodding in agreement.

"However, it is possible that Tai left the Digtal World and went home."

"Great! Why didn't I think of that before?" Davis said, disgruntled.

"It's simple, Davis," Yolei responded with sarcasm, "we go back to the computer lab and call his mom, and if he's not at home we'll make up an excuse about why Tai hasn't returned and come back here and search some more."

"Besides," the violet-haired girl added, "we also need to phone our parents too, that way they won't get some idea that we were kidnapped or something…"

While Davis and Cody nodded in agreement with Yolei's statement, T.K. shivered when the word 'kidnapped' left the girl's lips but quickly managed to mask his discomfort as the quartet found a nearby television and transported themselves back into the school computer lab.

…

Tai continued to run aimlessly, hypnotically being pulled to whatever was calling him.

But now, his body was beginning to reach its limits. The muscles in his legs began to strain while his breathing became more uneven and each time he wheezed for air.

Agumon was doing no better. He could barely keep up with his athletic partner; and the only thing that kept the reptile going was the programmed desire to keep Tai safe.

Suddenly, Tai came to a halt with Agumon clumsily bumping into him.

"I-I didn't think that you'd stop, Tai," Agumon said panting heavily, "I think that I've lost at least half of my weight from all that running…"

Still oblivious to his Digimon, Tai reached into his pockets and pulled out his digivice.

It was silent.

But notably, the digivice's vibrant screen had gone pitch black.

He clutched it tightly in his palm in frustration.

_It doesn't make sense! _The Bearer of Courage thought bitterly, _when my team first came here, Gennai told us that we weren't the first humans to set foot on digital soil. When I asked him about these children, he gave no detail about their identities._

_Was my own little sister a part of that group?_

_Did Gennai already know about Kari?_

_And if he did, why didn't he say something earlier? _

_What is he trying to hide?_

"Tai?"

"What!"

Agumon flinched, "We've gone a long way from where the others are, I think that we should try heading back. The Digimon Emperor's lackeys may be lurking around here."

"You're right, Agumon, but how about we rest up a bit?" Tai suggested. "You look exhausted."

"I am exhausted." replied the small dinosaur.

…

At the Kamiya apartment, Yuuko sat in the living room, growing more anxious as she listened to nearby clock's endless ticking.

_Tai's usually home by now,_ she thought, _where could he be? _

A loud ringing made Yuuko give a startled gasp until she saw that it was only the telephone.

_Maybe that's Tai trying to call explaining why he's late._

Getting her hopes up, Yuuko picked up the receiver and answered it.

"Hello?"

To her disappointment, it was T.K.'s voice she heard on the other end of the line.

"Hi, Mrs. Kamiya, is Tai at home?"

"I'm afraid he hasn't shown up yet," Yuuko replied sadly, "Is he over at your brother's apartment, T.K.?"

"Ummm…yeah…" fibbed T.K., "When Tai spent the night over at Matt's apartment, he left some of his stuff and just remembered as he was walking home from school and told Matt."

When Yuuko did not respond, T.K. hastily added more to the lie.

"Okay T.K.," Yuuko said, "Thank you for telling me."

After saying goodbye to her, T.K. hung up his cell phone.

"Well, did she believe you?" Yolei asked eagerly.

The Bearer of Hope sighed, "She believed me."

"Then, how come you're acting weird about lying to her?" questioned Davis.

But T.K. gave no reply as recollections of what Tai had told him about his younger sister swam in his mind and he hoped that he and the others would be able to find Tai soon before he suffered a similar fate.

…

"Agumon, are you sure we went this way? I mean, everything looks the same."

"Sure I am, Tai and now if we just turn here, we'd be-"

"Hold on, Agumon!" Tai cut off, "I thought I heard something."

The mini T-Rex paused and listened.

"Hmm…I don't hear anything; maybe it was just your-Wait a minute Tai! I hear it too!"

As the pair listened carefully it sounded like footsteps.

They tensed in anticipation as the sound of crunching leaves and twigs echoed through the forest.

It wasn't long until a faint image of a person came into view. Suddenly, the person stopped walking and waved at the two.

"Tai! Agumon! There you are!"

"T.K.!"

"I'm so glad we found you guys!" Patamon exclaimed.

After explaining both sides of the story, T.K. pulled out his D-Terminal messaging the others that Tai and Agumon had been found, unharmed.

Just as they were planning to once again walk back to reunite with the others, Agumon plopped on the ground.

"I can't go on anymore, Tai," groaned Agumon, "I'm dead beat."

"No problem," T.K. said with a grin.

Holding out his D-3, Patamon became completely engulfed in yellow light as he armor-digivolved into Pegasusmon.

Hopping onto the winged stallion's back, they flew down to where the others were waiting for them, however Tai, T.K., and their Digimon, were completely unaware of the presence of a small figure, hiding behind a nearby tree, was watching them.

-To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: My first update for the New Year 2012! With school coming up, updates won't come as often.

Big thanks to those who have reviewed: LucJig, Vigatus, QueenSunset, crestoflight3, endlessfun, Angelfish369, and Digi Yo.

Your reviews encourage me to write more!

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Five_

Returning back home to the Real World, Tai found himself scolded by his mother for going to Matt's apartment without telling her beforehand.

"It won't happen again, Mom," Tai said with a sigh, "I promise."

Yuuko smiled, "Good."

…

While his parents went out to do some errands, Tai spent the rest of the following day lying on top of his bed, his eyes fixated on his digivice, staring into the blank screen.

_What's wrong with this thing? _He thought in frustration.

He thought at first that the static might have had something to do with the device's malfunction and being in the DigiWorld could have damaged it.

More importantly, Tai worried that the impaired digivice had affected Agumon's digivolving.

Placing the digivice back into his pocket, Tai stretched out on the bed.

_Mom and Dad won't be back until a couple of hours, _he thought to himself.

Suddenly, he sat up in alert and listened, hoping that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

Then he heard it.

The giggling of a young girl.

Tai immediately recognized it as Kari's voice and leaping from the bed, Tai quickly put on his shoes and bolted out the door, bent on following the laughter.

Running out into the street, Tai could hear the giggling getting louder and louder as if it were mocking him. As Tai continued on in pursuit, he didn't notice that the sounds of the Odaiba city were fading off into the distance until he stopped to catch his breath.

"What?" he panted, "I'm back in the Digital World?"

Looking around he saw that he was back in the forest area of the Digiworld, just as he started to wonder how he was transported, he heard someone call out his name.

Turning around, Tai hoped that it was Davis or Agumon that called for him but instead, there stood a little girl, with short light brown hair wearing a pink jumper.

"KARI!"

He ran towards his little sister at great speed, bent down to her level and warmly embraced her.

"No one believed me but I knew that you were still alive." He whispered.

After releasing her from his hug, Tai looked into his sister's face.

_Wait…w-why hasn't Kari grown? It's been years since she vanished, how could she-_

"What's wrong, Tai?" Kari asked, noticing her brother's worry.

"Nothing, Kari!" he answered quickly, as he stood up. "Just take my hand and maybe we'll find a way back home."

"Okay."

…

Tai was getting worried.

He and Kari trekked what seemed like hours throughout the forest and it was becoming very obvious that they were lost. Without Agumon by his side, both siblings would be easy prey for Digimon roaming the area.

_It feels like we've been going around in circles…_Tai thought, _this has to be one of the Digimon Emperor's new schemes, to confuse us in order to capture us!_

The Bearer of Courage then felt Kari's hand slip out from his.

"I know that you're tired, Kari," Tai said looking down at her, "but we have to keep going."

He was about to take her hand again when the girl slowly stepped back further away from him.

"Kari?"

Kari smiled strangely at her brother.

"Your courage **ends** here." She answered in a cold voice.

Before Tai had a chance to respond, a strong wind swirled around the two, forcing Tai to shield his eyes against flying debris. Squinting against the strong gale, Tai saw a dark aura cloak itself around Kari's body, completely obscuring her features. Her small form began to change size as it contorted horribly, ripping the pink jumper into shreds.

Then the winds ceased as Tai stood mouth agape in horror.

In what was Kari's place stood a creature unlike any Digimon he came face to face with. It was tall with long arms and legs. Its eyes, which were deadlocked with Tai's, were the only thing that could be seen overall, its body looked like it was made entirely out of smoke.

Tai tore his gaze away from the creature's, frantically searching for an escape, but realized that he was no longer in the Digital World when a familiar scent filled the air.

The salty taste of the ocean.

Suddenly without warning, the creature lunged at the Bearer of Courage, pinning him to the ground.

Tai fought back viciously trying to free himself from the monster's grip but this only made the creature angry. It grabbed Tai by the throat lifting him up from the ground as Tai struggled to breathe while his legs flailed helplessly.

The creature then carried Tai off to a nearby cliff and threw the boy over.

Tai's screams filled the heavy air as he fell, but were cut short when Tai's head made contact with the rocky shoreline, his body went completely numb from the impact and the sounds of the crashing waves was the last thing he heard before everything went black.

…

Pain surged through every part of his body as Tai slowly opened his eyes.

_How did I ever survive that fall? _He thought in bewilderment, _I should be dead right now!_

The brunette looked down at his form and saw that his hands and ankles were shackled, while a chain wrapped around his torso kept his back against a stone wall.

_I'm in a dungeon!_

Voices then aroused as the prison door opened revealing two more creatures.

"Hmmm…what do we have here?" one of them asked.

"I managed to lure this one from his own world," replied the other, beaming with sadistic pride, "He put up a fight though…"

"Who or what are you?" yelled Tai, angry at himself for falling into an obvious trap.

"We are known as Wraiths, human," replied the first one, "Once an outsider sets foot in our Dark Ocean, they become our prisoner."

"Dark Ocean?" Tai repeated.

The two Wraiths then approached the teen with one unchaining him from the wall, while the other placed a heavy iron collar with a long chain around his neck.

"Come with us," the first Wraith said, pulling Tai with the leash, while the second Wraith pushed him forward as they left the dungeon.

Tai remained silent as they continued to walk on. Then the Wraith holding Tai's leash opened another door, revealing an elaborate throne room.

Pearls of different shapes and sizes decorated the room as the walls and floors were various shades of silver with the grand throne made up completely out of coral embodied with seashells.

Both of the Wraiths forced Tai on his knees as they kneeled before their ruler, "Your Highness, we have found a threat to our kingdom. What would be a proper punishment for our guest?"

"Bring him closer so that I may see him."

Almost at once Tai was pulled forward, the weight of the collar straining his neck but he ignored the gaze of the leader.

Then the leader suddenly gasped and Tai was sure that he heard his name being spoken.

Tai looked up at the ruler and his eyes widened in shock.

"Kari?"

-To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I'm terribly sorry for this slow update…life has been keeping me extremely busy! But I hope this chapter made up for the long wait and I would like to thank crestoflight3, Angelfish369, endlessfun, QueenSunset, Vigatus, Spottedleaves1, and Digi Yo for reviewing.

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Six_

"What's wrong, My Queen?" asked the Wraith behind Tai. "Shall we begin the punishment now?"

Both Wraiths turned; ready to strike Tai, when Kari immediately arose from her throne.

"No!" she cried, causing them to look up at her with surprise, "Don't do anything to him just yet!"

From out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a trail of blood oozing from Tai's temple, staining his shirt. "Instead, I want his wounds to be treated at once, and after he is healed, send him to the tower room."

"Very well then, Your Highness." They said.

Now giving the chains a gentle tug, the Wraiths led Tai out of the room through the corridors and into what appeared to be a medical room but it seemed almost barren aside from a bed and a small chest.

As Tai took a seat on the bed, one of the Wraiths went to the chest and opened it, pulling out a small bottle filled with a blue-green liquid.

"Drink this," ordered the Wraith, handing it over to Tai.

Tai narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he stared at the vial's contents. What if they were actually planning to poison him instead of healing him?

_But that wouldn't make sense, _he thought, _Kari ordered them to treat me and she doesn't want me dead. But I'll take my chances! _

With that, the Bearer of Courage uncorked the glass tube and drank it all in one swallow.

Immediately, a drowsy sensation came over him but he could feel the potion's effects lifting the pain from his body as sleep consumed him.

"Now that he's been taken care of, let's take our guest to his proper room."

…

Slowly waking up, Tai found himself lying on top of a large bed in a different room yet its design was similar to the throne room.

Before he had time to analyze his situation, the former gogglehead's attention was averted to the sound of the door being unlocked.

Tai tensed in anxiousness but to his relief, Kari appeared, closing the door behind her.

He got up from the bed to approach her but then remembered how he was deceived because of his desire to find his little sister.

_No! I won't be fooled this time! _He thought turning away from her, _She has to be another fake!_

"Why are you ignoring me, Tai?" she asked in an almost hurt tone.

"How do I know that you really are my sister?" Tai challenged, "Everyone thinks you're dead yet I continued to search for you! Now that I have finally found you, y-you're 'queen' of those…monsters!"

He waited for a response but was answered by Kari's silence until she whispered,

"Tai, look at me."

Hearing the plea in her voice, he finally turned around at stared at her.

Unlike the decoy Kari, she had aged since her disappearance. She'd grown taller, though still petite compared to her brother. She was dressed in a vintage gown of various shades of green, with a seashell brooch pinned to the collar. Her short, light brown hair had grown just enough to frame the sides of her face, while her bangs hung over her forehead with a coral tiara atop her head.

Still unconvinced that this person really was his sister, the Bearer of Courage looked directly into the girl's eyes.

When his brown eyes met with hers, he saw the same desperation in her eyes, the last thing he saw the day he tried to save her.

Tai couldn't believe it; he got up from the bed and approached his sister almost to see if she was real, till they were standing face-to-face with each other.

His hand slowly rose, gently caressing her cheek.

"It…is you, Kari…"

Upon his touch, Kari wrapped her arms around her brother, sobbing into his chest as he returned the embrace.

"I-I thought I'd never see you again, Tai!" she wept, hugging her brother even tighter.

A feeling of relief swept over Tai and he could feel his eyes watering up as well but he held them back to be strong for Kari.

"I knew that you had to be alive somewhere," Tai said, stroking her hair, "I never doubted it…"

…

After Kari had calmed down, Tai questioned about what happened to her when she was kidnapped but she proved to be uncooperative.

"Kari, I can't help you unless I know what happened!" Tai persisted. "I've told you my side of the story, now please, let me hear yours."

She sighed sadly, "Very well then, I will tell you.

"When I was kidnapped and brought here, I nearly died from pneumonia," she started.

"Pneumonia? But I thought you just had a cold then!"

"Arriving in the Dark Ocean worsened it, but the Wraiths were able to save and heal me. Once I recovered, I tried running away, only to find that the land was surrounded by ocean. I was caught and returned back to the castle, I begged to be sent back home but the Wraiths told me that the Dark Ocean was my home now and I was to be their ruler. Though I have been well treated here, the Wraiths have decided that I have come of age and…and…"

"And what Kari?"

"And that I need to marry." She answered.

Tai was flabbergasted. "Kari, you're **twelve** years old! You can't! How can they?"

Kari hung her head in silence.

"I won't let them do this to you, Kari!" Tai cried, "Not now, not ever!"

Turning back to her, Tai saw his sister quietly weeping until she looked back at him with a tear-stained face.

"I saw what the Wraiths did to you…a-and I don't want you to die because of me!"

The older boy's anger faded as he felt his heart aching in response to her grief; slowly, he gently took Kari's hands into his.

Feeling the warmth of her palms in his made Tai reflect back on his search for Kari: it was almost like being lost in an endless tunnel but he knew that if he kept going through the darkness, he would find the light at the other end. And now he had found that light.

"Tai," Kari asked in a defeated voice, "what are we going to do?"

He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze answering,

"We're going to escape this place. **Together**."

…

"Hey Sora! Heads up!"

She looked up just in time to hit the ball out of her opponent's range, scoring a point.

"Nice shot, Sora! How about we play another game?"

"Umm, no thanks, Gwen, I need to take a break." Sora replied.

Gwen was annoyed. "Hmph, you've been making up excuses a lot lately. I wonder what for?"

Sora didn't answer and walked over to a nearby bench on the tennis court, grabbing her bag.

"On second thought," Sora said, looking at the time on her Digivice, "I think that I better go home."

After telling the coach, Sora gathered her things and left the court. Stopping for a moment, she could see a soccer team practicing out on the field nearby. Sora sighed as she recalled how she enjoyed playing the sport with a passion prior to her journey to the Digital World.

_Unlike me, Tai stuck with his love for soccer. _She thought to herself, _But when the Highton View Terrance incident occurred, something else happened to him. _

_Then Matt told me what really happened, and now I feel so terrible being oblivious to his pain all these years._

_Tai's always been there for me, this time I'll be there for him!_

Sora turned abruptly from the field and left the high school but when she arrived at the Kamiya apartment, she noticed that the front door was slightly ajar and unlocked.

Going inside did not ease Sora's growing tension as she entered the living room.

"Tai?"

She called out again.

No answer.

_M-maybe he's asleep. He has to be; no he's __**got**__ to be!_

The Bearer of Love walked into Tai's room, hoping to see him sprawled on the bed but there was nothing but an empty room.

-To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I've updated another chapter ! And I thank Digi Yo, crestoflight3, QueenSunset, and Vigatus for reviewing the long-awaited previous chapter.

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Seven_

Though the room showed no sign of a struggle, Sora frantically pulled out her cell phone from her sports bag and alerted the other Digidestined, also telling them to meet her at the school's computer lab.

Questions were abuzz once the others arrived, but the only source for answers was to find Tai.

"The quickest way we can find Tai is if we split up," Izzy explained to the group. "While we older kids search Odaiba, you four will search the Digital World for him. After all, every second counts."

Matt and Joe looked in parks nearby where Tai would normally go to brush up on his soccer skills. Izzy tried tracing a location on Tai's Digivice, but was unsuccessful at getting a signal. Sora tried searching the high school grounds, calling out for her childhood friend, while Mimi could only encourage her friends through instant messages, although she feared the worst.

Despite searching for Tai in the usual places, the older Digidestined found no trace of the former goggle head.

"I can't understand why Tai would just disappear like that!" Joe groaned in confusion. "This is just like what happened four years ago!"

"Yeah," Matt added, "Except we're not in the Digital World."

"But, after we separated in order to look for him," said Izzy, "it was he who brought us as a team back together!"

"Agreed." Sora stated.

As the others thought of other possibilities of Tai's whereabouts, Matt recalled Tai telling him and his brother about Kari's kidnapping and came to a terrifying realization.

What if the kidnapper struck the Kamiya residence again?

Matt shivered at the possibility.

_But Tai wouldn't go down without a fight! _

_Or maybe,_ he thought,_ the assailant did break in but Tai managed to escape and is in hiding. That would explain why the apartment door was unlocked. _

_Wait, what about Tai's parents? They can't be…_

The blonde clutched his head in frustration. There were too many follow-ups to what might have happened at his best friend's apartment and each one had its own negative outcomes.

…

Back in the Digital World, the Digimon Emperor was silently observing the younger Digidestined search for Tai from his base.

"Just what are those puny insects doing?" he wondered aloud.

"Umm…Master?"

"I didn't call for you!" snapped the Emperor, "What do you want, Wormmon?"

"W-well, since those Digidestined seem too busy looking for someone, maybe you should rebuild the Control Spires that they destroyed or continue with your Dark Ring experiment."

He waited for response but the Emperor didn't answer.

"Ken?"

A sudden crack of the whip struck Wormmon in reply, knocking him over.

"I thought I told you **never** to call me that!" the Emperor shouted. "Or is your programming too feeble to remember?"

Wormmon looked away as the boy genius loomed over his tiny form.

Though Ken's eyes were obscured by his purple shades, the green caterpillar could feel the cold stare boring right through him.

"And did you forget that **I **make the rules here! **I'm **in control! But evidently, you and those fools can't put it through your thick skulls!"

"Y-you're right…Master…I'm sorry…"

…

"So, this is how it goes," explained Tai, "since this place is surrounded by water, we should try hiding in the woods once we escape!"

"I tried hiding in the woods when I tried to escape the first time but the Wraiths found me."

"I see," Tai sighed.

"But," Kari pointed out, "along the shoreline of the Dark Ocean there are several coves and sea caves that have been forming over the years."

"That's it Kari! That's how we'll get out of here!" the older teen exclaimed, "Once we escape from the castle, we'll head to the shore and go into hiding in one of the caves, and if we travel inside the cave, maybe it will lead us back home! I mean, the Dark Ocean is another world after all!"

Kari nodded, rising from the bed and slowly headed towards the door.

"I have to go," she said, "The Wraiths are not patient creatures but I'll come back tonight and we'll go through with the plan."

"How do I know that it's you at the door and not them by tonight?"

"I'll whistle." Kari replied.

Hearing that word made Tai remember that he still had his sister's whistle with him when he was lured into the Dark Ocean but when he searched his pockets, the metal instrument wasn't there.

_Those Wraiths must have confiscated it when I was knocked out. _He thought angrily.

Just as Kari was about to leave, Tai quickly got up from the bed and hugged her.

"I'll be waiting." He whispered in her ear.

With that, they slowly pulled away from each other, and Tai watched with a heavy heart as his little sister closed the door behind her, leaving him alone once more.

…

Each minute seemed to come more slowly than the last. And Tai lay there on the bed, not even touching the food tray that a Wraith had brought for him earlier.

His sole focus now was escaping with his younger sister.

_But has night fallen already?_

Tai looked out the tower window to see if it had gotten darker outside. From what he could see was a vast gray ocean dotted with fog and the sky above showed no sign of change.

_There is no sun in this place. _He thought, turning away from the window.

_Only everlasting darkness._

He suddenly heard footsteps going up the stairs towards the tower door.

Then they stopped.

Tai tensed as he heard the key slowly unlock the door.

He waited for Kari's signal.

And to his relief, he heard it.

Eagerly, he raced towards Kari the moment she closed the door and immediately they began their plan.

"There's a secret passageway down in the main room," Kari explained. "It leads down a trapdoor outside, and then, once we're out of sight of the castle, we'll run down to the shoreline."

"So we sneak out!" Tai said in a hushed whisper.

They then left the tower room, cautiously closing the door until it quietly shut. Carefully, the siblings walked down the stairway as silently as possible and feeling against the stone walls for support. Their hearts thumped nervously as they made their way through another door until they made it to the main room, lit only by candles. But, now they had to search for the hidden entrance. Like burglars, Tai and Kari carefully searched the hall using candles as a source of light.

Kari then spotted a stone jutting out from the wall; she approached it and slowly raised a hand to give it a gentle push.

"What are you doing, My Queen?"

Kari felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up.

Her hand holding the candle began to quiver and she turned looking up into the glowing eyes of a Wraith.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

Tai ran towards them like a madman, quickly pulling Kari away from the shadowy creature as the two fled.

The Wraith's shone blood-red with rage and it bellowed for its companions.

"THE PRISONER HAS OUR QUEEN, KILL HIM!"

The room began to swarm with countless Wraiths emerging from every angle, their forms blending perfectly in the pitch black.

Tai and Kari ran with only their candles guiding them through the dark castle, as the entrance finally came into view, Kari screamed.

Tai turned around seeing the Wraiths clawing at Kari's gown and hastened up the speed.

But the remaining Wraiths continued to lunge at them, their cold breath against their skin, until they finally escaped from the castle, leaving the candles behind, but they continued running at a fast pace, with the Wraiths still hot on their heels, until they saw a cliff standing in their way.

"Tai! We're trapped!" Kari cried.

Tai looked over the cliff and then back at the approaching Wraiths.

"Kari," he said, "We've gotta jump. It's the only way."

Though frightened, Kari obeyed, grasping onto Tai's hand.

"Ready, Sis?"

"Ready."

"JUMP!"

They leapt from the cliff and began to plummet down, down, and with a loud splash, the two began to sink deeper and deeper into the murky depths of the Dark Ocean.

-To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Here's another chapter and I give big thanks to those who reviewed!

**Shards of Light **

_Chapter Eight_

Tai felt his limbs rapidly growing numb with cold as he and Kari sank into the water.

Through sheer willpower, he struggled to pull both himself and his sister to the surface. But rather than being forced back up through buoyancy, the waters of the Dark Ocean were pulling them down into its gray fathoms.

Pressure was now threatening to snap them both in two, and Tai realized that they were quickly running out of oxygen.

Sinking further in the murky ocean, Tai felt his sister's hand slip out from his.

His eyes opened in sheer panic, allowing the ocean's salty contents flow in, stinging his eyes like daggers.

Narrowing his eyes in a squint, Tai turned and saw the faint outline of Kari, unconscious, sinking faster into the depths. He dove down, stretching out his hands until he grabbed her wrist. Pulling her close to his body with a firm hold, Tai swam up towards the surface.

Gasping as he swallowed gulps of air, he started treading to stay afloat as his attention refocused on Kari, whose form remained still.

"No!" Tai cried, "You can't give up on me, Kari! Wake up!"

But his pleas were answered only by the rush of the waves.

Tears began to run down his face. He had failed. The years of searching for her and wondering where she could be had completely gone to waste.

Now, he was alone, trapped in another world.

Even if he did escape, it would be meaningless now that Kari was dead. And revealing the truth would only hurt their parents more.

As he continued to cry, he felt a hand gently touch his chest. Followed by a cough. Then another.

Tai looked down, "K-Kari?"

She coughed a third time, turning away from her brother as she expelled the water from her lungs, sputtering remnants as she struggled to speak.

"I-I'm…o-okay…"

"Shhh…try to save your strength, Kari," Tai whispered, "just hang onto me and I'll swim us to shore."

As Kari began to tighten her grip on her brother, the entire Dark Ocean suddenly started bubbling.

Then, slowly rising from the ocean emerged the form of a gargantuan beast.

Its slimy skin was a light shade of blue and it wore various chains around the neck and arms. Tubes were protruding and wrapping around the body along with spikes at one shoulder and wings from its back. It had a gaping mouth and tentacles around its face.

Its red eyes loomed down at the tiny pair as they tried to swim away from it.

"Kari, what** is** that thing!" Tai asked as they frantically swam for their lives.

"His name is Dragomon," answered Kari in a timid voice, "The Undersea Master of the Dark Ocean. He's the one that the Wraiths want me to marry."

"**WHAT?" **Tai couldn't believe his ears, "THAT IS INSANE! I'm not letting that monster have you!"

As they were nearing shore, Tai was suddenly lifted up out of the water, his body coiled by Dragomon's tentacle hand.

"So, this is the courageous intruder trying to steal **my** bride?" Dragomon bellowed.

He began to squeeze Tai in his grasp as the Bearer of Courage screamed in pain trying to fight back but the Undersea Master only tightened his hold on the teen.

"STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Kari shrieked.

Dragomon ceased and looked down at the small girl, afloat among the waves.

"If you stop hurting my brother and let him go," she said in a shaky tone, "I-I'll become your wife and rule with you!"

She grew more desperate. "I'll do whatever you say! Just don't kill him!"

But Dragomon was beyond reason.

"He **deserves** to die a slow, painful death, my dear! He's a threat to you, me, and my world!"

Kari watched in horror as she listened to her brother's agonizing cries, as she remembered what she said to him earlier.

"_I don't want you to die because of me!"_

She felt warm tears fill her eyes, now her words have become reality. She knew that once her brother was out of the way, she would be alone once again.

This time at the mercy of the Undersea Master.

_I can't save him. I can't do this alone. I want…no, I need…_

"**HEEELLLLPPPP!" **

A bright pink light exploded from Kari's seashell brooch. It continued to grow brighter, until it was spreading across the ashen dimension.

Dragomon turned back at Kari, his eyes widening with pleasure as he observed the phenomenon coming from his would-be bride.

"This is it!" The sea beast sneered, "Her power has finally awakened!"

…

Meanwhile, the search for Tai in the Digital and Real Worlds was quickly going cold.

"We've searched all of the areas that the Digimon Emperor had control over but there's still no sign of Tai!" Cody said when the older group arrived in the DigiWorld.

"The rest of us had no luck in the Real World either." Joe stated downheartedly.

Izzy furrowed his brow in thought.

"Hmmm... hypothetically, it seems possible that the Digimon Emperor might be involved with Tai's disappearance."

"Yeah, but if he really had captured Tai," Davis added, "He would've confronted us already and bragged about it."

"The Digimon Emperor isn't the only person here who brags." muttered Yolei.

"Maybe he's on some quiz show back in the Real World." joked Davis.

"That's it!" T.K. cried.

"The Emperor's on a quiz show?"

"No! I mean that ever since we started looking for Tai here, the Digimon Emperor hasn't even tried to attack us when we went to his controlled areas! So, it's possible that Tai may have fled to a section of the Digital World that the Digimon Emperor has not conquered yet!"

Matt's face brightened. "T.K., I think you might be on to something!"

"Alright, then it's settled!" Izzy declared. "Davis, you, Yolei, and Cody will head back to the Real World and search in districts near Odaiba for any new leads on Tai's whereabouts, while my group will search those unmarked areas. T.K. will stay with us in case the Digimon Emperor does decide to attack. We'll e-mail you if something happens."

"Good luck and be careful." Davis said as he and his group took off.

"Well," stated the redhead genius, "the five of us better get a move on."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" asked a voice.

They spun around.

"Mimi!"

Joe was surprised. "How did you get into the Digital World without flying to Japan?"

"A Digi-Port opened up on my computer when I was sending messages to you guys." she explained, "I couldn't stand it anymore! Just sitting back at home and worrying. I felt like…I wasn't doing my part as a Digidestined!"

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Mimi," Sora said gently, "You've matured a lot since we first came here."

Mimi smiled weakly. "Thanks Sora."

From behind where the pink-haired girl was standing, emerged the other partner Digimon, rushing up to greet their teenaged humans.

"Hey, where's Agumon?" T.K. asked.

"He's been acting strange since Tai disappeared." Biyomon frowned.

Matt spoke up. "Do you guys know where he is now?"

"Of course, Matt." replied Gabumon, "Agumon's at the beach where he first digivolved into Greymon."

"Well then, let's get moving!" T.K. said.

It didn't take long for the original Digidestined to find their missing comrade's partner standing on the beach's hot sand, staring off into the sea's horizon.

"Hmmm… I wonder what he's looking at…" Gomamon said aloud. "Because I don't see anything but the sky and sea."

"He can't be under the influence of a mirage," pointed out Tentomon, "That only happens in deserts."

"I'm fine," the orange dinosaur sighed sadly.

"You don't sound fine," said Palmon.

Biyomon hovered over and landed next to Agumon. "All of us are looking for Tai as best we can."

"Yeah!" Patamon added, "We'll find him!"

While the older Digidestined smiled sentimentally as their Digimon continued to lift up Agumon's fallen spirit, T.K. looked out towards the ocean.

Then, something far out in the distant sky caught the younger blonde's eye. At first, he wasn't sure what to make out of it but the image steadily grew closer. It wasn't a Digimon like he'd thought it would be, but instead a faint, glowing light.

T.K. started to get nervous and tried to avert his attention away from the strange light.

Looking up again, the light was now coming closer into view, and T.K. thought he saw something within but he forced himself to ignore it once more.

_No! I can't be the only person who sees this! And why has it picked me?_

As if in retaliation, The Bearer of Hope's curiosity was nagging at him to see whatever was residing inside the light. Finally caving in, his blue eyes refocused back at the light and he saw the image more clearly.

He went pale with his mouth gaping open in disbelief.

Patamon took notice of T.K.'s sudden change and quickly flew back to his human partner.

"T.K., what's wrong?"

Matt's attention also averted back to his little brother followed by the others.

"Tell me what's wrong, T.K.? Are you sick? Do you need to lie down?"

Instead of answering, T.K. slowly lifted a shaky finger, pointing out to the ocean.

The older five and the Digimon obeyed the boy's silent gesture and gasped.

From inside the approaching light was Tai, his mouth open in a silent scream.

The light then suddenly grew stronger and brighter, consuming the entire beach.

…

The ocean waves sounded louder than before and Matt could taste the saltwater splashing up against his face, causing him to stir.

"Ugh…" he groaned. "What was that?" And he was answered by a tight hug from his Digimon.

"Matt, you're awake!" exclaimed Gabumon.

"Yeah, I'm fine," The Bearer of Friendship suddenly paused, his eyes taking in the bleak scenery around him.

He remembered how drained of life the Digital World looked when he and the others were battling the Dark Masters but he knew that this was not the same beach that they were standing on minutes earlier.

Panicked, Matt quickly looked behind him and to his relief saw T.K., Sora, Mimi, and Joe waking up on the shoreline along with their Digimon.

"W-Where are we?" Mimi shivered. "I-it's so cold!"

"I believe that we're in another world." Izzy explained. "That beam of light must've transported us here. It was signaling us."

"For us to find Tai!" Sora concluded. "It makes sense!"

"But where is he?" asked Joe.

A loud scream echoed across the gray beach.

Agumon gasped. "That's Tai! He's in trouble!"

With Agumon taking lead, the group ran across the shoreline until they stopped short upon seeing Dragomon steadily crushing Tai.

Joe immediately turned to his partner. "Gomamon!"

The seal-like Digimon gave a firm nod and took to the dark water.

"Gomamon digivolve to….Ikkakumon!"

Ikkakumon was soon followed by the digivolutions of Garurumon, Birdramon, and Kabuterimon.

The Digidestined quickly boarded Ikkakumon as the other champions charged at the Undersea Master. Heading off away from shore, they heard a faint cry.

"Help! Help me!"

Looking down both humans and their Digimon saw Kari barely keeping her head up as the waves crashed on top of her.

"Don't worry down there!" Mimi called out. "We're not going to hurt you!"

"Just grab my vines and hang on!" cried Palmon while Mimi tightly secured her.

"Poison Ivy!" The purple vines shot out and extended down towards the water. Kari made sure her grip was tight as she was gently pulled up.

Meanwhile, Tai's rescue from Dragomon had the odds stacked high against the three champions and the sea beast easily had the upper hand.

"What's wrong, weaklings?" he taunted, steadily adding more pressure on his victim. "Afraid to hit me because of him!" Tai cried out once again and lost consciousness.

"You coward!" snarled Garurumon. "HOWLING BLASTER!"

The ice cold blast was followed by Kabuterimon and Birdramon, their power fueled by rage.

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!"

"METEOR WING!"

Their attacks once more proved to be in vain as Dragomon blocked them with ease. However, he didn't notice that Birdramon had flown to a higher altitude until she swooped down at an alarming speed and clawed Dragomon in the eyes with her talons. The Undersea Master howled in pain, blindly swatting at the firebird, dropping Tai in the process.

Kari and the Digidestined watched as Tai's limp body descended downward. Joe urged Ikkakumon to swim faster in hopes of catching Tai but the teen was falling at a fast rate. As he was nearing the ink-like ocean, his fall was broken by Garurumon.

Hastily, they raced back to shore as Dragomon blindly continued to attack. Once back on the sandy terrain, Tai was laid down gently onto the gray sand as Joe proceeded to examine him.

"Well," Sora asked. "How is he?"

Joe bit his lip. "He's not breathing…and his pulse is fading fast."

-To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: This story is almost complete with only one more chapter to go and I thank crestoflight3, Digi Yo, Vigatus, and QueenSunset for reviewing.

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Nine _

Mimi's eyes began to water. "Isn't there something you can do, Joe?"

Hearing those words, Joe felt his own anxiety building. He remembered how Leomon had died and he couldn't help due to the inadequate supplies that he carried during his second trip in the DigiWorld though Primary Village was eventually restored.

But this was different.

Tai's life was now lingering on a thin thread between life and death and Joe would be the one to decide the outcome.

He gritted his teeth in determination, "I'm gonna try and save him!"

The Bearer of Reliability steadied his hands onto Tai's chest and began CPR. The others watched, almost holding their breath in anticipation as each second stretched on longer than the last.

"Come on, Tai," Joe pleaded, "Breathe…breathe…BREATHE!"

A terrifying shriek from Dragomon echoed across the vast ocean snapping the group of seven out of the fixation. Without warning, countless Wraiths emerged from the woods, dove into the water surrounding Dragomon completely filling the ocean in an eerie mass. Then one by one, they slowly swam closer to their wounded master stretching out their long arms and began chanting ominously.

T.K. shuddered.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Me neither," squeaked Patamon, nestling deeper into the younger blonde's arms.

"Let's not wait around to find out!" Mimi cried. "Why don't we get out of here!"

"But we can't go back the way we came," protested Izzy. "It-"

"We'll worry about escaping later!" interrupted Matt, "What we should be worrying about right now is Tai!"

As those words left his lips, the older blonde immediately turned his gaze to Joe.

"How is he?"

Joe didn't answer.

"Has he started breathing?"

Silence.

Matt asked a third time with more force. "Is he even-"

"Tai's still alive," answered the blue-haired teen, avoiding the gaze of the others. "But he's shown no signs of improvement even with CPR."

Joe took in a deep breath, "H-his lungs have completely collapsed from compression."

"So, we're just going to let him **die**!" Matt screamed. "After everything Tai did for us years ago! Now we abandon him when he needs us the most! I-If it hadn't been for him I'd…"

Matt sunk to his knees; his anger towards Joe diminished, leaving him unable to finish what he said. His hands slowly rose up and he buried his face into them, muffling his sobs.

T.K. bent down, mutely rubbing his hand softly against his older brother's back, unable to fight back his own tears.

"I couldn't save Leomon, and now I can't even save Tai!"

Joe clenched his teeth, pounding his fist into the sand.

"I-I don't even deserve to carry on the family tradition!"

As Sora, Mimi, Izzy, and the Digimon broke down and wept, Kari felt her entire body become numb from feelings of disbelief and shock as tears flowed from her eyes.

"It's not true…" she faintly whispered.

Then, as if she was under a spell, Kari slowly trudged her feet against the sand, her sole focus was on the dying form of her brother.

Once she stopped and looked down at him, she shrunk back, covering her mouth in horror. Her once proud, brave big brother had been mangled into nothing but a lifeless shell, displayed before her.

Mustering up her courage, she slowly kneeled down close to him as the others watched.

"Tai…" Kari mumbled as the lump in her throat grew, "Oh, Tai…all of this is my fault! Everything! Compared to you, I'm just the weak little sister who can't even defend herself! "

The six Digidestined gave an astounded gasp.

It didn't make sense. Tai's sister had vanished seven years ago; she couldn't have survived for such a period of time if she was abducted. And if this girl that they rescued is her, what was she doing here and why?

So many questions were pouring through their minds but the shock had left them at a loss for words.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning was followed by the low rumbling of thunder.

Again, snapping back to reality, the Digidestined turned back to the Wraith-filled sea as the chanting reached a fever pitch. Fog began to form and swirl around, thickening and obscuring the creatures from sight. Lightning crashed down in a blinding flash crackling in contact with the poisoned water as thunder erupted throughout sending shockwaves as it roared across the sky. The wind started to pick up into a powerful gale, clearing away the fog, sending sand, water, and other debris in every direction. The Wraiths ended their ritual song, placing their hands onto the form of their Undersea Master slowly **merging** into his skin, one after the other as their shadowy forms disappeared into his gigantic body.

"We've got to get away from here or else we'll be killed!" Joe shouted over the howling wind.

With a nod, Matt, Sora, and Izzy pulled out their digivices.

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

Quickly as possible, they dispersed into smaller groups as they boarded on one of the three champions: Mimi, Joe, and their partners went with Izzy while T.K. and Patamon joined Matt.

As Sora headed towards Birdramon, she noticed that Kari had not moved an inch away from her fallen brother's side, along with his partner standing beside him vigilantly. Instinctively, the former tomboy turned and approached the distressed girl, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She felt the young brunette tense up at her touch as she gazed up at Sora with frightened, tear-stained eyes.

"I c-can't leave h-him," Kari stuttered in-between hiccups, "I d-don't want t-to!"

"You won't," The Bearer of Love replied softly, "He's our friend too and we're willing to help you as well."

Sora then lifted her hand off from Kari's shoulder and held it out before her.

"Do you trust us?"

Kari hesitated.

_Should I? These people and those monsters did save me from drowning and they seem to really care a lot about Tai. If only Tai were-no…this is entirely up to me to choose._

"Yes! I do!"

As Sora slowly helped her back up on her feet, something nearby the rocks of the shoreline caught Kari's eye.

"Hold on, I'll be right back."

Enduring the harshness of the wind, she pressed on towards the area, ignoring the waves crashing violently against the stones as the sea foam stung her face and hands. Until, she knelt down and found the object.

Covered and caked all over with wet sand, Kari could not make out what the item was when she picked it up. Quickly, she stuck it into the pocket of her dress and went back to the others waiting for her.

With Tai gently and carefully carried in Birdramon's strong talons, Kari, Sora, and Agumon took to the sky along with Izzy's group on Kabuterimon.

Lightning pierced out from the clouds, as if challenging the bird and bug to continue on. Making their way through the bolts threatened to strike them down as they dodged to and fro making it very difficult for them to stay airborne and keep their human companions out of danger.

Rain began to cascade downward in heavy sheets with the wind guiding the droplets as they beat down on the group completely drenching them to the bone.

Back on land was no different. The ashen sand quickly sopped up the rainwater and was starting to pull Garurumon down into the muck. The striped wolf growled in frustration as he struggled to get loose but this was making him sink faster.

"Come on, Garurumon!" Matt encouraged, "You can do it!"

"I'm…trying…" answered Garurumon, his upper limbs half-way absorbed in the sod.

"Do it for Tai!" T.K. shouted.

Those words gave the blue wolf the resolve to fight back.

Matt, Tai, T.K., and everyone else, he wouldn't let Tai's suffering be in vain! Garurumon crouched back, summoning his strength, then lunged forward, breaking free in a great leap into the dense forest close by.

When the final Wraith disappeared into his body, Dragomon finally turned, eyesight restored, watching them try to escape with his bride in tow.

His rage began to boil.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

A black whip materialized in his hands and he gave it a mighty thrust.

"THOUSAND WHIP!"

With a deafening crack, the massive whip struck the aerial champions with great force, sending them and their human partners tumbling down into the grey forest below.

Mimi screamed in terror as the ground came closer and closer into view.

"Pull up, Kabuterimon!" Izzy yelled frantically at his Digimon, "**PULL UP!**"

There was a loud crunch that was followed by many screams.

Branches snapped into pieces as they descended, down faster and faster until Birdramon and Kabuterimon's large forms crashed directly on top of Garurumon.

The impact caused the blonde brothers to ricochet forward as Garurumon was forced down from the combined weight. T.K. fell, his head painfully skidding against the ground in a heap with a limp Patamon by his side while Matt collided into a nearby tree trunk.

Mimi, Izzy, and Joe plus Gomamon and Palmon, slid off of Kabuterimon. Palmon latched her vines onto a large, tree branch but as she made a grab for Mimi, the branch gave way, pinning the five underneath it.

Sora lost her grip on Birdramon's foot, landing hard on her side. Kari and Agumon struggled to hang onto the giant firebird, but her hold on Tai was also weakening until he slipped right out of her talons as she, Kabuterimon, and Garurumon slowly started to render back into rookie form.

"TAI!"

The two leapt from Birdramon's shrinking form, tightly securing the older boy around the chest as gravity pulled them down with their bodies cushioning the fall that was meant for him.

Groaning in pain, Kari began rubbing her sore right arm as she slowly arose on her knees. As her eyes took in the scenery surrounding her, she gasped in horror.

Everyone was lying unconscious and unmoving, looked just as Tai did years before: broken and bleeding.

All because of her.

Guilt racked through her brain as the memory replayed over and over again in her mind.

"No!" she cried, clutching her head in resistance, "No! No! NO!"

The sound of wafting air mixing with the wind and rain filled her ears; Kari gazed up to see Dragomon's shadow looming over her, his eyes glowing red with lust.

"My beloved bride," he said, eerily calm, "Once we are wed, these **worms** that tried to kidnap you will be tortured and punished immensely for this crime. And when their spirits and bodies are in absolute agony and they plead for mercy, they will be boiled alive and we shall feast on their **flesh**!"

"Now," the Undersea Master bellowed, **"COME TO ME!"**

Kari felt sick at her stomach as images of Tai's friends, each one brutally injured, were begging and crying out to their tormentor to be spared only to be answered back by another blow ran through her mind.

Then, a sudden burst of feelings eradicated all of the guilt and fear she carried in her heart.

"Never…"

The whispered word gradually grew in volume as she repeated it over like a mantra stimulating one to press forward to the call of duty until she shouted at the top of her voice,

"I WILL **NEVER** BECOME YOUR BRIDE!"

She took off her crown and threw it to the ground, where it smashed into bits.

"**YOU TRAITOR!"** The great sea beast roared, readying his whip. **"IF YOU REFUSE TO BE MINE, YOU CAN JOIN YOUR FRIENDS IN DEATH!" **

Kari stood, unfazed by his threat keeping her ground as the gigantic whip came hurdling down at her.

"**I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!**"

Pink light burst forth from her brooch with more potent force than before. Then slowly it expanded, forming a half circle over them just as Dragomon's whip struck against the shield with a resonating blow.

But the shield did not falter.

From underneath the barrier, warm energy began to flow into the seven Digimon as each of their partner's Digivices responded to the light.

Now at champion level, they stood protectively beside Kari with Ikkakumon and Togemon joining after removing the broken tree limb from off of their human companions.

Dragomon smirked at the summoned last resort, "So, you weaklings have come back for more? Or will you flee before me like the cowards you are?"

"You won't harm Tai or anyone else ever again!" Greymon growled. "Nova Blast!"

The enormous fireball was joined in by the others, the combination increasing in power.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Needle Spray!"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

"Hand of Fate!"

Dragomon smugly blocked the attack, but quickly reeled in pain once it made contact with his skin, leaving his tentacle hand blackened and scorched from the aftermath. He looked down at Kari in disbelief, as the Light that he craved to possess was now rivaling his own power.

But something else was slowly awakening alongside her. Flickering and dim were several other lights amidst Kari's guarding light glowing faintly like a beating heart. Each one grew brighter and stronger with each pulse until the flickering completely ceased, intertwining in harmony with Kari. Tendrils shot forth from the lights building up the defense of the pink barrier adding on their colors as part of their allegiance.

The bright colors stood out in contrast to the bleak world of the Dark Ocean, like an eye in the midst of a hurricane. The untouched serenity concealed within the vortex of wind and rain with Kari standing directly in its center.

With doubled strength, the light's warmth silently washed over the Digidestined, showering over their still forms with its gentle rays. As if it were water, the light began to cleanse them free of the injuries they sustained from the failed escape, removing any grime, leaves, and twigs that had left their mark.

Tai's eyes snapped open.

He gasped as he began taking in deep breaths satisfying his lungs' hunger for oxygen.

Steadily, he brought himself up to a sitting position, when he looked up in awe to see a multi-colored light shining over him but familiar groans tore his gaze away from it when he saw his friends coming to as well.

"Guys?" the brunette boy called out, "W-what are you doing here?"

The Digidestined bolted up at the sound of his voice and were struck with awe. They were pinching themselves mentally to make sure that Tai was not a hallucination.

And he wasn't.

"Tai, y-you're alive!" exclaimed Sora, but then her eyes widened, "Oh, Tai, your chest!"

"Huh?" Tai said confused, "What about my chest?"

"Just look down at it!"

He obeyed.

He thought for sure he would never see it again.

But there it was.

His Crest of Courage had been restored, shining wildly through his shirt.

_My crest is back? _Tai thought, staring down at the burning sun, _I thought that we gave them up in order to help the Digimon Sovereigns but now, my crest feels even stronger than ever!_

Tai turned and saw that the same phenomenon was also happening to the others, each one of their crests blazed over with power.

Beams of energy suddenly emerged from the seven crests towards their Digimon, basking and caressing them in their glow, triggering another transformation.

"It can't be!" Dragomon shouted then he lowered his tone to a frustrated hiss, "It won't be."

The Undersea Master immediately summoned a golden trident at his command and putting all of his strength into it, sent it down at the shield along with his whip.

A crackle was heard.

Then it grew louder and louder as the cracking became more distinct.

Dragomon smiled maliciously seeing that his weapons had finally destroyed the barrier but when he looked again, the rainbow shield was still standing with the gigantic trident and whip bursting into a million pieces of data.

The sea beast stared down at them wide-eyed, his gargantuan form stiff with shock.

Seeing the opening, the ultimate Digimon stepped forth from the shield and launched their attacks at full power.

"Giga Blaster!"

"Wolf Claw!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Flower Cannon!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Soul Vanisher!"

The attacks fused into one, directly engulfing Dragomon in the blast, completely incinerating his body into data until nothing was left.

-To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Here it is, and just in time for the 13th anniversary of Digimon, the last chapter! And I would not have made it if not for all of the encouraging reviews. Oh, and be on the lookout for a Matt fanfic coming soon!

**Shards of Light**

_Chapter Ten_

From above, the wind and rain was gradually slowing to a halt as the storm began to die down.

The seven Digimon were completely maxed out from the energy burst and dedigivolved straight to their in-training forms. The radiant crests of the Digidestined faded back into their hearts along with the rainbow shield that had guarded them from being snuffed out by Dragomon's evil wrath.

Kari slumped to her knees, with the brooch's pink light leaving behind a star-shaped print as it disappeared. With her head growing heavy, she was on the verge of welcoming sleep when she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

She turned around and there stood her brother, alive. With renewed vibrancy, she found her feet and dashed madly towards the bushy-haired teen, wrapping her arms around him.

The Dark Ocean suddenly began to distort around them, and the gray sky buzzed and crackled like electrical static. Quickly making a grab for their now toy-sized Digimon partners, the other six huddled close together forming a circle around the siblings as the forest scenery around them began to melt and blend into each other like dripping, wet paint.

"What's happening?" Tai cried out, holding Kari in a protective embrace while Koromon hopped as fast as he could to his human partner, wrapping his pink ears tightly around Tai's right ankle.

"Izzy, what's going on?"

Mentally, Izzy analyzed the situation over but when the pieces came together in his brain, the redhead genius's expression turned grim.

"Guys," he said, horror-stricken, "This world has been thrown off balance!"

"Meaning?" asked Mimi, already fearing the answer.

"When our Digimon defeated that monster, it must have somehow resulted in an unstable warp in the balance." Izzy explained in a worried voice, "Almost like that digital tear that was created when Tai defeated Etemon. And if we don't escape from here soon…"

Though the Bearer of Knowledge couldn't finish, the others exchanged worried looks, realizing the outcome of the worst-case scenario.

Then the thought of denial set in. It couldn't end like this! It just couldn't!

"But how can we get out of here, Izzy?" Sora questioned, "You said that we can't go the way we entered this realm so-"

The auburn-haired girl's sentence was cut off when the ground started to crack and split open, belching out steam, ash and other toxins into the atmosphere.

"**RUN!"** Tai screamed over the roaring whistle of hot air. He quickly scooped up Koromon in his right arm while his left hand was locked around Kari's wrist and ran at breakneck speed.

Clutching their Digimon tightly in their arms, the others followed after the bushy-haired leader.

"This is nothing compared to the Dark Masters' invasion!" exclaimed Joe, partially squeezing Bukamon in his grip much to the creature's annoyance.

"At least, the Digital World wasn't throwing up like this place…" Bukamon mumbled with sarcasm.

Tai counted as he looked back at his friends following behind him.

_Good, _he thought with relief,_ Everyone's still here…but where can we run? This entire world is disintegrating and trying to take all of us with it! _

_Our Digimon can't help us in the state they're in and Kari-_

At the thought of her name, he recalled something that she mentioned to him about the Dark Ocean.

His brown eyes lit up.

_The sea caves! It's our only chance!_

"Which way do we go now, Tai?" Matt called out, "There's nowhere to run and this place is going berserk!"

"Follow me to the coastline!" the brunette teen answered back, "I think I know a way out!"

With no hesitation, the other Digidestined obeyed his order.

Once they safely made it there, relieved to be out of the forest, Tai hastily searched for a sea cave or cove with the others close by.

The sand was still moist from the downpour of rain earlier but had lost the strength to pull each of them under and now it was only sticking to the soles of their shoes effortlessly slowing them down.

"Ugh, perfect!" Mimi groaned, trying to move her legs forward without dropping Tanemon, "these were my favorite boots!"

After some struggling, she and everyone else managed to pull them off, grimacing in disgust as they felt the muck sandwich in between their toes while carrying their ruined shoes and socks with their free hand.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!" whined the pink-haired girl at the top of her lungs.

"No kidding," agreed Joe, "and this stuff doesn't even feel like sand!"

"Enough complaining, you guys!" Tai shouted, "And keep moving!" he ended it with an exasperated sigh. His brown eyes scanned the rocky base of the shore, hoping to find an opening that had been formed from the waves of the Dark Ocean.

But another thought crossed his mind: The bleak shoreline had been unusually calm compared to the cataclysmic forest.

_Why is that? It just seems too convenient…and shouldn't the ground be cold instead of hot?_

He stopped, looked down at his feet and his eyes widened.

The gray sand was rapidly drying out and he could feel it skyrocketing in levels of heat even though there was no sun.

He quickly looked out toward the Dark Ocean and saw the dark water evaporate at a fast rate as it boiled and bubbled immensely with the once mighty waves shrinking in size and power as they receded inward.

Then the pain set in.

Biting his lip, the Bearer of Courage tore his gaze away from the ocean, this time desperately searching for a way out. He motioned the others to follow him as he felt like he was walking on hot coals each time he put one foot down as he ran.

"Tai, look over there!" cried Sora. "There's a cave formation coming up ahead on our right!"

"We're going in!" Tai ordered, clutching both Koromon and Kari tighter in his grip.

T.K. winced.

"Ow…a cave's a lot better than having our feet burned off…ow"

Renewed determination was pushing Tai onward and the pain that he felt didn't matter anymore.

_We're almost there._ He thought as he quickened his pace.

Looking back at Kari, Tai saw her eyes watering up as she tried to ignore the seething pain.

"Just hang on, Kari," he assured, "We're gonna make it!"

She nodded and gave a weak smile.

Eagerly, the group of eight made it inside the mouth of the sea cave, their feet instantly cooling against the damp rock.

But just as they began to proceed deeper in, there came a sudden, loud crack from outside.

Looking back, they watched in awe as the Dark Ocean now was starting to warp as its instability had reached its peak. The dull, sky above the remains of the ocean was breaking as if it were made of glass.

Then, the entire Dark Ocean rumbled as it dissolved away as the sky shattered, followed by a brilliant flash of white light that flowed into the cave engulfing all in a blanket of white.

And as quick as it came, it faded off into oblivion, revealing the bustling city of Odaiba.

The Real World surrounding them seemed so surreal; everything was beaming with life and it felt strange to hear the sounds of city life and seeing colors add their vibrancy to it after seeing nothing but an endless sea of gray.

Memories of the abrupt return home came back to Tai, remembering the disbelief that he was finally home after spending what seemed like months in the Digital World despite that little or no time had passed in the Real World.

"We're…back…" Tai said in a hushed tone.

"I'm home!" Kari cried, "I-I can't believe it!"

The other Digidestined released a sigh of relief. Tai was alive and through him, the girl's identity would be confirmed but it was T.K. who wanted to know more than the others.

Timidly, the Bearer of Hope approached the two siblings.

"Tai," T.K. asked, "Is she really?"

"Yes," he whispered, "This is my sister, Kari Kamiya."

"We've finally found you, Tai!" a girl's voice cried out.

They turned and saw the younger Digidestined, all exhausted from searching practically everywhere in and near the Odaiba district.

Yolei sighed with relief.

"When we couldn't find Tai, we tried e-mailing you guys but didn't get a response! We were so worried!"

As the violet-haired girl went on, Davis was observing the still drenched forms of the original team.

"Did all of you try to go skinny dipping or something?" he asked, scratching his head, "Because you guys are all wet."

Cody glared at the goggle head in annoyance.

"If they did that, their clothes wouldn't be wet!"

Davis scoffed as he turned away from the younger boy but that's when his brown eyes quickly caught sight of Kari, making his heart pound like mad.

"Say, Tai, who's that chick standing right by you?"

Tai scowled, "This 'chick' happens to be my little sister, Davis!"

"**WHAT?"**

The new Digidestined were taken aback.

"Y-you never told us that you had a little sister." Cody said.

"It's a long story." Tai replied.

…

After both the old and new Digidestined had left for home, Tai, Kari, and Koromon began heading back to the apartment complex but mixed feelings were raging inside the younger girl.

"I'm worried."

"Worried about what, Kari?"

Kari hesitated.

"What if Mom and Dad don't recognize me and they don't believe you when you tell them?"

"They will believe," Tai said, placing a strong hand on her shoulder.

However, once the two siblings made to their complex home, there stood their parents who were just about to open the door.

A moment of complete silence snuffed out all sounds of the world going on around them.

Kari stared into the eyes of her parents as the few recollections of her early childhood began to rewind and play once more in her brain.

She wanted to reach out to them, but the fear of rejection kept her frozen in place.

Susumu and Yuuko were beyond disbelief. All this time, ever since the police had failed to find her, they had given up, thinking that their only daughter was dead.

But their eldest son hadn't. Though this faith seemed like foolhardiness to them, Tai never stopped and now, his belief was rewarded.

Slowly, Yuuko came forward and looked her long-lost daughter in the eyes.

"K-Kari…"

"Mama…Mama!"

Instantly, Yuuko pulled Kari into her chest, both weeping tears of exuberant joy. Kari looked up from her mother's embrace to see her father smiling warmly, he too was crying as he joined in with his wife and youngest daughter.

Tai gently set Koromon down as he joined his family.

He could no longer hold in his tears as he felt his parents' happiness flow over him. At long last, his family was whole again and his search for Kari had truly come to an end. Though the journey was trialed through webs of doubts and uncertainty, Tai knew that with courage and perseverance, he could make it through.

…

Later that night, Tai woke up to the door of his room opening. Squinting in the darkness, he saw the outline of Kari, still dressed in her sea-green gown.

"Thank you for everything, Tai," Kari whispered.

"No, I should be thanking you." Tai answered back. "Your whistle that you left behind helped keep me going, but now it's gone…"

Upon hearing those words, Kari reached into her dress pocket and pulled out the object that she found on the beach.

Tai got up from the bed and turned on a nearby lamp to better inspect the item. Handing it to Tai, he began to gently brush away the clumps of sand with his fingers.

As he cleaned the last bit of sand off, resting in palm of his hand was Kari's whistle.

-The End.


End file.
